A Lovely Life
by Lee's Descendent
Summary: Harry finds himself in a strange town and is unable to return home. He is soon found by a familiar redhead who reluctantly takes him in. Harry becomes determined to discover what happened to her 15 years ago and why exactly she blames him for it. AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, everyone. Thanks for taking the time to actually click on my story and actually **_**read**_** this terribly long and boring author's note. I just want to say a couple of things before we get started:**

**1) This fic is alternate universe. Kind of. It follows all the books, but…well…you'll see what I mean.**

**2) The characters will probably act OOC, so I hope you keep in mind that this is an AU fanfiction so they will probably act differently than they would in the books. I'm trying very hard to keep them in character. Let me know if it's too unrealistically OOC, though, so I can fix it.**

**3) I don't speak Britlish. I'm sorry if I got something wrong!  
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**4)I got the idea from **_**It's a Wonderful Life**_**. It's a wonderful movie, and if you have not already seen it, please do so. Anyway, it's not very similar, but if you stretch, you might see a similarity or two.**

**5) Grammar and Spelling: Okay, I am sort of a grammar nerd, so I really hope I don't make too many mistakes. Please let me know if I do.**

**6) Constructive criticism is strongly requested. I always want to know what I can do with my stories to make them better. Even though this is my first fanfic, I ask that you do not go easy on me in your comments.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS, IDEAS, OR ANYTHING CREATED BY J. K. ROWLING (but I do have a copy of the books, but that doesn't really count.)! I DON'T OWN **_**IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE**_** EITHER! I just own…um…what **_**do**_** I own? Oh yeah! I own Clear Creek Avenue, since it came from my own imagination!**

**Thank you for sticking with me this far! Now, what you've all been waiting for: Here is…. **_**A Lovely Life**_**!**

"Mph," Harry grunted. His head had been aching for hours now. Harry had woken up in an alley in some unfamiliar town. His wand was missing and he could practically hear Hermione's voice scolding him for losing it. He had tried apparating to Grimmauld Place and the Burrow, but for some reason, he hadn't moved an inch. He had waited for the Knight Bus, but it had not shown any signs of showing up. Harry had started walking. He had no idea where he was walking, but it gave him something to do. He continued to walk forward.

By 6:00 PM, Harry had come to a quiet neighborhood. He noticed he was on Clear Creek Avenue, as the street sign so plainly indicated. He continued his journey. He glanced at a house to his right and noticed a redheaded woman in her late twenties or early thirties walking to the front door. She stopped abruptly, and scanned the area behind her. She noticed Harry and let out a small scream. Harry stood still, unsure of what course of action to take.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly.

"Dudley Dursley," he answered automatically. Giving his cousin's name had become a habit during the war. Considering the war had just ended, it was instinct to lie. The woman didn't seem to believe him and ran towards him. Before Harry knew what was happening, she was moving his bangs back to reveal his lightning bolt scar. Harry froze.

"Potter," she whispered. Her face contorted into an expression of pure hatred. "Why are you here?" she questioned.

"I don't know. I just woke up here," Harry answered.

"Really?" she asked. It was very obvious that she did not trust a single word he said. There was also something strikingly familiar about her. The red hair, chocolate brown eyes, freckled face…

"It's been fifteen years since we last heard from you," she continued. "By the looks of it, you haven't aged a day. Where have you been? What were you doing that was more important than-"

"Fire," came a male voice from the front door of the house. Harry assumed he was her husband, just because of how they looked at each other. Except…the man looked exactly like –

"Sirius Black," the woman named "Fire" snapped, marching up to where his figure stood in the doorway. Harry stared in shock at his supposedly dead godfather. "I've told you time and time again! You. Are. Not. Well. You need to stay in bed. You aren't strong enough to go walking around –"

"Nonsense," the man chuckled. "I'm doing just fine. Now let my godson in. I think you're scaring him." He sent a crooked grin in Harry's direction.

"That's sort of the point, Sirius," Fire said tightly. "I'm hoping that maybe he'll get out of here and never come back."

"You don't mean that," Sirius said.

"I mean every word I said," she hissed.

"Fire, listen to me." He grabbed her arms and forced her to look at him. "We can fix it. Make it so everything's okay. That's why he's here. That's why I came out of the veil." Fire stopped protesting.

"Fine," she muttered. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy it."

"I didn't expect you to," Sirius told her calmly. "Now go get inside. I think Teddy was pulling Rosie's hair, and she's crying-"

"I _knew_ I shouldn't have let you have a 'Maruader Chat' with Teddy! I _knew_ it would only lead to trouble! I _knew_ you would teach him to follow in your awful bullying ways! I _knew_ –" she continued her rant as she walked inside to solve the issues of her children.

"'ello, Harry," Sirius greeted awkwardly once Fire was gone.

"Sirius? How? I saw…you died…" Harry could not speak coherently.

"Well that's not a proper way to greet your godfather after all these years!"

"Sorry, Sirius,"" Harry said. "I'm just confused. How are you here? Does this mean I'm dead?"

"We'll discuss it inside," Sirius said, completely serious now. Harry wasn't sure if he felt comfortable being in the same building as the redhead who was clearly insane. He expressed this concern, but Sirius only barked out a laugh.

"Oh, Fire? Don't worry about her. She's actually a lot nicer than she comes off. She only puts up that act because she was hurt. Badly." Sirius's voice lost its laughter. "She's lost almost everyone close to her, and those who didn't die…well…"

"Who is she? I feel like I should know her…" Harry asked.

"You haven't recognized her yet?" Sirius asked. "I admit, she does look a bit different from what you remember, but it's been fifteen years, you know, she's not going to look sixteen-years-old!"

"What do you mean by, 'it's been fifteen years'?" Harry asked in shock.

"Come inside." Sirius said. Harry obliged, and Sirius shut and locked the door behind them.

**Aaaaand….CUT! First chapter complete! How was it? Please review to let me know! I'll try to update ASAP…**

**Feel free to try and make guesses of what's going on. You'll probably get it right away, since I'm terrible at being subtle. Oh well.**

**Now, RIP IT TO SHREDS! MUAHAHA...sorry. I've got a really sadistic friend, and I think she's worn off on me...  
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**Until next time!**

**-Lee's Descendent**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, first of all, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU SOOOOOO MUCH to BizzyBee9696 and alicewillbealice 1066379 for adding this to your favorite stories! Not one, but TWO people! I'm in shock. When I got the e-mails, I almost started dancing for joy! THANK YOU to Mark Wink, whyeveryamihere, and mdauben. I've just been sitting at my computer smiling stupidly at the screen in complete bliss at the idea that not one, not two, but THREE people put my fanfiction on Story Alerts. Special thanks to mdauben for reviewing. YOU ARE ALL MY NEW BEST FRIENDS! I can't stop grinning. I love you people! Your kindness means the world to me!**

**Thank you also to all the other wonderful people who took the time to read my first chapter. You are the best! *Starts crying tears of happiness***

**Okay, I get it; you're tired of hearing me appreciating people. You didn't read this story to read about me crying. So, on with the show!**

**Wait, one more thing. I'm really sorry about the lack of an indent before paragraphs. Nothing I do seems to fix it. :( Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing except the street, the Faceless Bandits and the Fire Station since they came from my brain.**

Harry followed Sirius into the house. It was an average size house, but it felt like a house full of many people, with young children running around often. There were only a few items that appeared to be worth anything. Many things were knocked over or covered in stains. The furniture seemed cheap and worn down. Judging by the total disarray, Fire and Sirius did not seem to care much about the state of their house. Harry almost laughed at the idea of what the look on his Aunt Petunia's bony face would be if she discovered her own house in such a state.

"Welcome," said Sirius, "to the Fire Station."

"Fire Station?" Harry wondered aloud. "She named it after herself?"

"No," Sirius laughed as they sat down in what appeared to be the living room. "I named it. She didn't even bother naming it. Disappointingly uncreative of her, wasn't it? I expected more from her, but of course, under circumstances, I suppose it's understandable that she didn't care for clever names. I called it 'Fire Station', you know, after those Muggle fire-putting-out-people, and that it's Fire's house and station."

"What do you mean, 'before you got here'?" Harry asked. "How are you here? How am I here? What's going on?"

"Hold on a second," Sirius chuckled. "One question at a time, please."

"What's going on?" Harry repeated.

"All right, let's start from the beginning," Sirius said. " The year right now is 2013." Sirius waited a bit for this information to sink in. "So, I've been…dead…for seventeen years. The Second War finished with Voldemort dead, the good guys winning, a lot of other people dead, you get it. You know this part. Everything seemed to be going just dandily. However, after the war, something went wrong. For some reason no one understood, you just…left. You wrote some rubbish letter about…well…I don't know. Fire refuses to talk about it. I just know that you said a load of hogwash in it. So, basically, the Wizarding World was in shock. The hero who had saved them from Voldemort had abandoned them completely.

"People didn't support or trust the Ministry of Magic at all after the war. The Ministry was still recovering, so it was extremely weak. It could not enforce laws. Dementors couldn't be trusted, obviously, so they were replaced with the elite Aurors. However, with the best Aurors stuck in Azkaban, other criminals got away with terrible deeds. Innocent people were sent to Azkaban again," Sirius growled out this part, "while the guilty got away scot free.

"One group of these criminals called themselves the 'Faceless Bandits'. The 'Bandits' cast charms on themselves to appear faceless, hence the name. They cast permanent curses on people that, while some were amused at first, quickly became a terrible problem. Top employees in the Department of Mysteries worked hard to try to overturn the curses, but it was to no avail.

"An awful epidemic broke out in 2001. Healers were in great demand as they searched for a cure. Outlaws the Aurors failed to catch would kidnap Healers and hold them ransom for high prices. There were few qualified Healers, and those outlaws took those precious few. They then killed the Healers regardless of whether or not the ransom had been paid, just for the fun of it. With no one capable of stopping it, the disease quickly became fatal, and killed many. The few that survived lost the ability to speak and move on their own.

"People became afraid to leave their homes. Because they refused to leave their homes to buy anything, businesses were forced to shut down. People couldn't pay for anything. Eventually, people had to grow their own food. Houses fell apart, as there was no one to fix them. The Wizarding World has become economy has completely crashed.

"Hogwarts has been closed for years. Practically no parents felt it was safe to send their children to Hogwarts. The few that did send their children did not have the money to pay for supplies. After your teachers retired, the school board could not find anyone willing to be replacements. Hogwarts was forced to close down. People homeschooled their children, but the children have not been able to get as good of an education as they could have if Hogwarts were still around."

"What about Fire?" Harry interrupted. "What does she have to do with this?"

"I was just getting to that," Sirius said, "and since when do you call her 'Fire'?"

"Since that's the only name I've heard you call her."

"Well, that's because I've called her that since we met. Only I can call her 'Fire' without getting hexed, so I suggest you figure out who she is before you accidentally call her 'Fire' to her face."

"Couldn't you just tell me?" Harry asked hopefully.

"What's the fun in that?" Sirius snorted. "Anyway, back to Fire, well, most everyone she knew and cared about fell victim to the 'Bandits', the epidemic, or leftover Death Eaters trying to get attention. She's nursing her few living relatives alone. She's also been raising her friends' kids by herself. She's been going through Muggle part-time jobs over the past fifteen years. She doesn't trust the Ministry, doesn't have time for Quidditch, despises the Daily Prophet, and can't go to the Quibbler since it was discontinued. She still needed to get an income so she could continue to support everyone. She doesn't earn much, but it's helped her throughout the years.

"Now, it's been decided in the Land of Death – pleasant name, isn't it? – that things weren't supposed to end that way. Some unknown force interfered and caused you to leave, which caused all these other problems. That force was not supposed to interfere. You were supposed to stay and help the Ministry establish itself again and aid in preventing the crimes. It was easiest to bring me back from the dead, so I was chosen to be the one to return things to normal. After being here in 2013 for a month, I'd seen and learned enough to understand what I had to do. I brought you from 1998, just before you ran away, so that you could see why you _must_ stay. I don't care what happens when you return to your own time. You've got to stay with the Wizarding World and help it rebuild. Prevent it from crumbling."

There was a silence. Harry was in shock, and had no idea what to say. He wasn't sure if this was all just some trick of his imagination, and he waited for someone to jump in and yell, "FOOLED YOU!" but it never came. Sirius just appeared to be lost in his own thoughts.

"Why…why does Fi-er…the person who owns this house…especially hate me?" Harry asked cautiously. Sirius looked like he was about to answer, but he was interrupted by Fire's voice.

"Sirius!"

"Yes?" Sirius called back.

"If you're well enough to stay out of bed, you're well enough to join the rest of us for dinner."

"I don't know how that woman does it," Sirius shook his head with a smile. "Takes care of the entire planet, and _still_ makes a decent meal. Mad, that one. Well, come along, Harry. Fire doesn't appreciate tardiness."

**YAY! Another chapter complete! Thank you again to everyone who's stuck with me this far! **

**I admit, this was a boring chapter. Long explanations aren't my bag, but it kinda had to be done. I'll try to make the next one better. :D  
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**Review please! I love you all!**

**I don't know when my next update will be… I don't know how busy I'm going to get, but I'll try to return to this as soon as possible!**

**Until next time!**

**-Lee's Descendent**


	3. Chapter 3

**HELLO! I'm SOOO sorry for the long wait. As I predicted, things got a bit crazy. I also took a while to figure out where exactly I'm **_**going**_** with this story. I managed to produce this eventually, and it's definitely not my best work, but I felt bad because I haven't done ANYTHING for such a long time…and, again, I'm very sorry for that.**

**I also must take some time to thank my lovely new friends Treebrooke and Jedi Knight 3 for adding this story to their favorites, and elizdbc 1 and CarlieBoox for putting this on their story alerts. Thank you also to alicewillbealice1066379 for the review – though I hope you're not **_**too**_** disappointed that I'm not going to give that answer easily. I am rather curious as to what my readers think is going on, because **_**I **_**certainly know what's going on (well, sort of) and I'm extremely curious as to where your minds are at this moment.**

**Well, anyway, thanks to the rest of you who accidentally clicked on this link. I just go onto my account to look at the number of hits and I smile happily. Thank you!**

**And now, your favorite part!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I'm not even going to bother attempting humor right now.**

Sirius led Harry into the homely but comfortable dining room. There were many chairs that were unfilled. Fire was placing the food on the table while several children ran around setting the table. Sirius gestured Harry towards a seat, and Harry sat down. Sirius took the seat next to him. After a while, the children all sat down. They each stared at him with complete curiosity. Fire, once she was satisfied with the dinner, sat down without a glance towards Harry.

Harry looked back at the children. There was one boy who was probably around fifteen years old with bright turquoise hair and warm brown eyes. The girl next to him looked a year or so younger than him with strawberry blonde hair and icy blue eyes. A girl around the age of seven sat next to her, with bushy red hair, a freckled face, and the same blue eyes as Ron. A boy who strongly reminded Harry of a younger Neville – same round face and hazel eyes – was seated as well, and looked around the age of five. Two blond boys with wide blue eyes, quite similar to Luna's, hardly seemed to recognize Harry's presence seemed to be around the same age as the boy who looked like Neville.

"Alright, we have a guest tonight." Sirius started.

"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered the oldest girl.

"C'mon, Vicky," Sirius complained. "Work with me here?"

"Since when do we have 'guests'?" she retorted.

"This is a special case," Sirius replied.

"And how many other 'special cases' are we going to have?" the oldest boy questioned, one eyebrow raised.

"I would like to know the same." Fire spoke up, looking directly at Sirius. "How many other 'guests' of yours are going to join us tonight?" The children all gave him annoyed looks, and glared at Harry, as he didn't seem to be making their mother happy.

"Would you all please cooperate? Look," Sirius said. "my godson here," he gestured to Harry, " hasn't figured out who exactly this lady," he gestured to Fire, "is yet."

"Why are you friends with only stupid people, Sirius?" asked one of the blond boys. Sirius looked offended.

"My friends are _not_ always stupid!" Sirius protested.

"Yes, they are," Fire muttered.

"They are not! And that's not the point!"

"Then what _is_ your point?" asked the other blond boy.

"The _point_," Sirius said, "is that if you are all civil and as long as no one reveals Fire's identity, everyone gets a special treat sponsored by yours truly." The children's faces immediately lit up, and they all sat up a bit straighter in their chairs. The older two just rolled their eyes, but seemed to put the others' happiness above their own annoyance. Fire frowned, but said nothing. "Now," Sirius added, "how about we introduce ourselves to him?"

"I'll go first!" piped up the girl with bushy hair. "Do you like reading books? I do! Have you read _Hogwarts, a History_? I have – it's my favorite book! Auntie says that it was my mum's favorite book, too! I also like Muggle books! My mum was a muggleborn, did you know that? My dad was a pureblood – not that it matters or anything. I'm Rose, by the way, who are you?" This was all in one breath, causing Harry to simply stare at her in shock. She sounded almost exactly like Hermione had when they had first met on the train.

"Don't scare the bloke, Rosie," the older boy smiled at her fondly, ruffling her hair (and earning an indignant muttering from Rose). He glanced up at Harry. "I'm Teddy, by the way."

"Victoire," said the older girl.

"Franklin," the boy who looked like Neville added quietly.

"Lysander," one blond boy said.

"Lorcan," the other said.

"We're twins," explained Lysander.

Harry couldn't bring himself to say anything. He was confused. He didn't recognize any of these names, yet the children looked so familiar.

"So," Sirius started awkwardly. "How is everyone?" Rose raised her hand as if she were in school. "Yes, Rose?" Sirius asked.

"I finished the _Lord of the Rings_ today!" she declared. Fire smiled kindly at her.

"That was one of your mum's favorite Muggle books."

"Was it?" Rose asked, her eyes lighting up.

"She always tried to get the rest of us to read it," Fire answered, a nostalgic expression on her face.

"How's Trevor?" Teddy asked Franklin.

"He's not doing so great," Franklin admitted.

"He's an old toad," Fire said consolingly. "I'm surprised he's lasted this long."

"I know," Franklin said, but he sank down in his chair miserably.

"I have come to the conclusion that males are hopeless," Victoire stated.

"It took you that long?" Fire asked. Harry was pretty sure he wasn't imagining that Fire's gaze had rested pointedly on him for a brief moment.

"Oi!" Teddy cried. "I didn't know it would hurt! Sirius said that pulling a girl's hair would cause no pain!"

"I rest my case," Victoire said smugly. "Only a moron would listen to what Sirius has to say." Sirius huffed a bit.

"I suppose I have to agree with that," Teddy consented. Sirius gave him a look of the utmost betrayal.

"That's because I'm always right," Victoire reminded him.

Soon, everyone had finished. While it was not the most delicious meal Harry had ever had, it was certainly edible. The children quickly cleaned up their plates and headed off in various directions.

"Why," Fire started, once she, Harry, and Sirius were the only ones left in the room, "is it that you happened to leave out Potter's role in their lives – or lack of it, I should say?"

"Now, Fire –" Sirius began.

"Don't you 'Now, Fire' me, Sirius Black! Either you tell the children the truth about what he's done (well, what he hasn't done is more like it), or he's getting out of my house!"

"If you feel so strongly about it, why didn't _you_ tell them?" Sirius snapped

"I was hoping you would prove to be a responsible human being and tell them yourselves!" Fire spat. "Clearly, I was mistaken!"

"Look, we'll discuss this later, alright?" Sirius attempted.

"It is absolutely _not _alright!" Fire snapped. "If Potter is going to stay here, _you _are responsible for him and you are responsible for telling the children. You will feed him. You will designate an area for him to sleep, you will find him a place where he can use a bathroom without disturbing everyone else's routine, you will clean up after him -"

"You make him sound like a dog," Sirius protested.

"He is one!" Fire hissed.

"Oi! _I'm_ Padfoot, okay?"

"You are _hopeless_!" Fire shouted. "I'm going to check on my brothers, and when I come down, Potter had better not be anywhere I can see him." She stormed out of the room.

There was a long silence. Sirius looked very angry with Fire, and she had also seemed very angry with him. Harry never liked being around a fighting couple (he had certainly grown weary of it with Ron and Hermione), and the fact that he was the _reason_ they were fighting made him feel even worse.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble with your wife, Sirius," Harry spoke up.

"Thanks, Harry, but it's not your – MY WHAT?" Sirius cried, raising his eyebrows in shock.

"Erm, your wife?" Harry questioned.

"What wife?" Sirius all but shouted. "Since when have I got a wife? I don't remember this!"

"Oh, er, I just assumed that Fire was your wife and-"

"_Fire_? And _me_? _Married_? Harry, have you lost your mind?"

"Well, it seemed like it, I mean you fight like you're married and you look at each other like you're married, and-"

"Whoa, Harry," Sirius said, looking absolutely horrified at the idea of himself being romantically associated with Fire. "First of all, I'm old enough to be her father. I may look her age, but I'm fifty years old for Merlin's sake! I've only been here a month, keep in mind – did you really think I got here, met a girl, and got _married_ in a _month_? She's _your_ girl, anyhow, and – where did you get the idea in the first place?"

"I told you – you both acted like it."

"Harry," Sirius said, "has anyone ever told you that you are _terrible_ at figuring out people's feelings for each other?"

"Hey," Harry objected, "I figured out Ron and Hermione!"

"_Everyone_ figured out Ron and Hermione, Harry, that's not impressive."

"Neville and Luna?" Harry attempted.

"Neville married one of the Abbotts. Luna married some magizoogist person Scamander."

"Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson?" Harry was desperate to get one right, and these two seemed like a sound guess.

"Malfoy married one of the Greengrass girls. Aria or something. Pansy married one of the Notts, or Flints, I can't remember what Fire said."

"Greengrass?"

"Neutral pureblood family," Sirius explained, "and you've proven that you are not talented at figuring out couples."

"But – "

"Fire and I have never had, do not have, and never will have romantic feelings for each other. The idea is absolutely disgusting. Please eradicate that thought from your brain."

Harry felt terribly awkward. He had completely misjudged things and now Sirius seemed as if he were about to be sick. Harry thought he should remind Sirius to hide him, as Harry was not up to dealing with an angry Fire alone. However, Sirius got there first.

"I'd better get you somewhere to sleep before Fire gets back." Sirius muttered. "_Married_, honestly," he mumbled to himself. "Absolutely raving mad."

Sirius beckoned Harry to follow him. Harry followed, and the two walked in silence. Sirius pointed to a door.

"Just go in there. I'll put a note on the door so Fire doesn't start cleanng the room while you're still sleeping in it - though she'll probably do that anyway. My room is up the stairs and to the right if you need me. Good night, Harry," Sirius began to return to his room.

"Wait," Harry called, "you never told me why Fire hates me so much!" But Sirius was gone, and Harry was much too tired to go chasing after him in the dark house.

"Thanks for that," he mumbled sarcastically, as he headed into the room Sirius had designated for him. He couldn't see very well in the dark, nor could he find a light switch of any kind. He bumped into a bed, set his glasses on something that felt like a desk, and climbed into the bed, falling asleep after only a few minutes.

**And there we have it. Phew, that took a while. Sorry again for the wait. I am sad to predict that the next chapter won't be written for a while, as I have no clue as to what's going to happen in it. Oh well. I'll do my best!  
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**PLEASE give constructive criticism. I am dying to improve my writing and I'm going to need YOUR HELP.**** Thank you so much!  
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**I think I should add that, in this fanfiction, "Fire" and Sirius are NOT in ANY way a couple. They never were, and they never will be. Maybe in another fic...hmmmm...**

**Well, I'm off.**

**Until next time,**

**Lee's Descendent **


	4. Chapter 4

**HELLO**** EVERYBODYYYYYYYY!**

**Oh. My. Gosh. Has it really been five months since I last updated? I am such a horrible person! I am so sorry!  
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**Okay, excuse time!  
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**1. I had two big tests on the same day, and had to study. Lame, I know, but if I got a bad score as a result of fanfiction, I might not even be here right now.  
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**2. After said big tests, my computer died. It finally revived itself yesterday, so I got cracking on this story because I've been feeling SO guilty for not even giving an explanation as to my absence.  
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**Now, I would like to thank ngcheuk for favoriting both the story and me and also thank Red Writer, BostonGirl2012, SpencerReidFan89, and Becca loves monkeys for putting this on their Story Alerts. I am so touched by your simple clicking of button! You all made my day!  
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**Special thanks to PSDancer54 for the wonderfully helpful review, and for really inspiring me to continue writing A Lovely Life rather than throw in the towel. And so, with great pleasure, I dedicate this chapter to PSDancer54! Thank you so much, and sorry again for not replying for a month!  
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**Well, I hope you all enjoy! I will try to update faster, but I'm going away for 3 weeks soon. Also, I'm thinking of rewriting the last few chapters because in my opinion, they were awful and I am ashamed to have written them. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter of A Lovely Life!  
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**Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling. I own nothing.  
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"_Where do you think you're going?" asked the girl behind Harry dangerously._

"_Nowhere," replied Harry, trying to appear nonchalant._

"_Good. Then come back inside."_

"_I'm taking a walk."_

"_I'll come with you." She was in front of him now, staring him down.  
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"_That won't be necessary," Harry snapped, trying to brush past her.  
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"_Harry Potter, what are you trying to hide from me?"_

"_Nothing. All right?"_

"_Why are you lying to me?"_

"_I'm not lying! I'm taking a walk!"_

"_If it's only a walk, why can't I go with you?" Harry let out an exasperated sigh._

"_I feel like being alone."_

"_Fine. But promise me two things. One: that you're not going off to brood, because that doesn't help anyone. Two: that this isn't some idiotic plan of yours to run off and save us all by –"_

_CRACK._

Harry shifted in his bed. That had been a strange dream. It had felt like a memory, except that he didn't remember it happening. Soon, he fell a sleep again, only to wake up a few minutes later. He contemplated getting up to find a toilet, but found he couldn't move. He felt so comfy that the idea of getting up seemed morally wrong. Why was it that beds felt comfy in the morning, but not at night? He could just lie here all day, and sleep and-

"Potter, get up."

And then there was Fire.

"Potter, you get your sorry self up right now."

Harry tried to lift his head from the pillow. He failed miserably.

"Fine." Harry felt the covers around him shifting. Suddenly, there was a _thump_ and Harry felt a new weight covering his head. He thought it might be a pillow, which wasn't necessarily bad because now everything Fire said was slightly muffled.

"Oops," was Fire's unsympathetic explanation of Harry's new discomfort. _Maybe if I ignore her, she'll think I'm sleeping and she'll go away_, thought Harry_._ Under normal circumstances, Harry would have known that this was a stupid idea, but he was half-asleep and could not function properly. All he knew was that he wanted to sleep and Fire's voice kept getting in the way of that.

Fire continued to scold him, this time for leaving his things all over the place. Harry wondered if she'd ever leave.

"AUNTIE!" came a shrill voice. Harry cringed into his pillow at the sound.

"Rose, I said not to bother me unless there is a fire or unless there is blood."

"That's the thing," panted Rose. "Lorcan wanted to make breakfast, but he made a mess, and everyone's tripped and can't get up, because there's lots of sticky stuff on the ground. So Sirius sent me to go get you."

"I can't leave you people alone for five solitary minutes," grumbled Fire as her footsteps became farther away.

Harry opened one eye.

"Is she gone?" whispered Harry.

"Yeah," responded Rose softly. Harry gradually sat up. He could make out a blur that he assumed was Rose.

"You wouldn't have happened to have seen my glasses, would you?" he asked.

"No, sorry. Oh! Here they are!" Rose handed Harry's glasses to him. He thanked her, and they sat in awkward silence.

"That story you told your aunt sounded awfully made-up." Harry started.

"It was," admitted Rose. "Sirius said to stop her from nagging you. I'm the most innocent looking, according to Sirius, so he said I should tell Aunt – well, you know – that she had to leave you alone. Considering that would be a death wish, I went with a story to distract her."

"What happens when everyone isn't 'stuck to the floor and can't get up'?" Harry inquired with the hint of a smile.

"Oh," was Rose's reply. "I didn't think that far in advance." She hopped up. "Well, it's been fun saving your life and all, but I should go save my own before my aunt kills me – well, she won't kill me, but she'll probably kill Sirius. Have a nice day!" And with that, she dashed out of the room, leaving Harry thoroughly bemused.

Harry wondered what he ought to do with himself, considering that he had no spare clothing or anything else to neaten his appearance. Glancing around the room, it seemed more like a storage room than a bedroom. Harry wondered if he should poke around in search of something to freshen up even a little bit. However, he didn't want to intrude when Fire already despised him so much. That was when he remembered: Sirius had told him that if in need, Harry should find Sirius in a room that was up the stairs and to the…left? Or was it to the right? Had there been a specific door? Harry had absolutely no idea, and since he didn't want to barge into the wrong person's room, he gave up on that idea.

"SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" screamed a voice. A blur ran into Harry's room and quickly shut the door and locked it. The figure turned to Harry and begged, "Please hide me!" Harry, realizing it was Sirius, began to walk to Sirius from across the room, but as the room was not neat, Harry tripped over various objects on the floor while Sirius dashed for cover.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" came Fire's piercing voice outside the door. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! DON'T YOU TRY TO HIDE FROM ME!" There was a muttering of "Alohomora!" and the door swung open. Harry glanced up. Fire was standing in the doorway, positively fuming, Sirius was hiding in a lump under the covers of Harry's formerly fresh-looking bed, and Harry was sprawled out in the middle of the floor.

"Well, well, well," whispered Fire, doing an excellent imitation of Filch when he caught students out of bed. "Aren't _we_ in trouble?" Harry heard a whimper from the lump that was Sirius.

The children came running into the doorway.

"Aunt Ginny!" exclaimed Franklin. "There's an owl with a letter for you!"

**Well, that was a big reveal right there. Not. Half of you knew that anyway, whether it was your super-awesome intelligence or my lack of subtlety (sp?) or both. Well, next chapter is Harry's reaction to finding out the identity of Fire and, hopefully, we (I must include myself in this group) will find out what Harry did 15 years ago! Yay! We're almost there! I don't think there will be too long to go!**

**Until Next Time,  
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**-Lee's Descendant  
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